Psalm 88; 2 Kings 9:17-37; 1 Cor. 7:1-9; Matt. 6:7-15
Elijah had prophesied the destruction of the house of Ahab and Jezebel when they took Naboth’s vineyard from him by treachery and murder. The Lord used Jehu to accomplish His will. Jezebel is betrayed by two men who could not be taken in by her allure, two eunuchs. These two would have been unclean under Jewish law, as they were no longer natural men and yet the Lord used them, and their handicap, in this matter. Jezebel had essentially reduced all the men under her sway to the status of eunuch, subservient to her demands, but these two could not be controlled by sex and they were willing to throw her over the wall. It would be interesting to know how they came to be eunuchs, if it were by Jezebel’s wishes. This would certainly be a fitting revenge. They are the only two who acted like real men.
Jesus teaches the disciples to pray simply, not with many words. The old adage is worthy that we have been given two ears and one mouth and we should keep that proportion in mind when it comes to listening and talking. How do we square this issue of forgiveness with our first lesson? Forgiveness is extended to those who are repentant. We can forgive in the sense that we no longer hold the emotional and spiritual baggage in our lives but forgiveness is not extended to the one who sinned against us without their acknowledgement of the wrong they have done against us. In our Christian lives we receive forgiveness not as a principle but as a result of our confession and repentance of the sin. Jezebel was completely unrepentant of the sins she had committed against the Lord and the nation and Jehu was the instrument of God’s judgment against her sin. We are indeed called to be forgiving but we need to understand the simple math of forgiveness to deal with sin properly. In this instance, Jehu was doing not his own will concerning Ahab and Jezebel, but that which the Lord commanded through the prophet.
Paul speaks further into the marriage relationship and shows us a picture of mutual submission. One partner cannot deny conjugal rights to the other as in the covenant relationship each has a right to the person of the other. That is truly a politically incorrect statement in our day when we hear about the inviolate rights of the woman for instance with respect to her body in the case of abortion. Paul would certainly not recognize any such argument within the body of Christ. We are truly considered to be one flesh in Christian marriage. Sex is a natural and wonderful part of the marriage relationship and it is a significant part of our DNA drive to perpetuate the species, to be fruitful and multiply, and frustration of that desire is unnatural in a marriage. Such frustration, Paul sees, can lead to temptation and unfaithfulness. Marriage must not be characterized by dominance of one party over the other in any way, we are meant to more truly love one another as ourselves in that relationship than any other.
And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.
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